Removable elastic heel-pad.



No. 684,557. Pat ented Oct. 15, mm.

' .N. STALKER.

REMOVABLE ELASTIC HEEL .PAD.

(Application filed Feb. 25, 1901.)

(No Model.)

NEIL STALKER, OF VEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

REMGVABLE ELASTIC HEEL=PAD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 684,557, dated October15, 1901.

Application filed February 25,1901. Serial No. 48,638. (No model.)

To alt who/1t may concern:

Be it known that I, NEIL STALKER, a citizen of the United States,residing at West I-Iartford, in the county of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRemovable Elastic Heel-Pads, of which the following is a specification.

The invent-ion relates to those pads which are inserted between theheels of horseshoes beneath the frogs to prevent slipping on wet and icypavements and to relieve the heels and tendons from concussion.

The object of this invention is to provide a very simple and durableheel-pad which is so constructed that it may be easily and quicklyplaced in or removed from position, but which cannot accidentally becomedisplaced and which protects the frog and heel, thus absorbing all shockand relieving the heel and the tendons of all vibration and eliminatingall pressure from corns or other tender spots and also obviating thenecessity of a bar-shoe for the purpose of holding the 1100f spread.This pad has a yielding body shaped to fit between the heels of a shoe,which body on one side is roughened to prevent slipping and on the otherside is hollowed out to fit the frog. A steel spring passes through andholds the elastic body extended. The ends of this spring, which projectin front of the body, are shaped to bear against the inside edges of thelegs of the shoe at about its widest part, so as to prevent the pad frombeing driven backwardly between the heels of the shoe when in use and toextend between the top of the shoe and the bottom of the hoof to preventthe pad from dropping out of position.

Of the accompanyingdrawings, whichillustrate an embodiment of theinvention, Figure 1 shows a view of the bottom face of a horseshoe withone of the removable elastic pads in position. Fig. 2 shows a view ofthe top of one of the pads removed from the shoe. Fig. 3 shows atransverse section taken on the plane indicated by the dotted line 30 30of Fig. 1 with the flanges extending above the shoe, and Fig. 4 shows alongitudinal sec tion 011 the plane indicated by the dotted line 40 40of Fig. 1.

The pad may be used with any ordinary form of horseshoe. The body 1 ofthe pad that is illustrated in the drawings is preferably formed ofrubber, but may of course be formed of anyothersuitableyieldingmaterial.This bodyis shaped to fit between the legs 2 of the shoe, with the backend about flush with the heels The lower surface of the body is ribbedor otherwise roughened to afford a good foothold upon wet and icypavements. In the upper part of the body is a recess 4, shaped toreceive the frog. Extending through the body from the front to the backand across the back is a steel-wire spring 5. The ends 6 of this spring,which extend in front of the body, are preferably flattened, and woundabout the flattened ends of the spring are pieces of sheet-steel. Thesesheetsteel pieces, which might of course be formed integral with theends of the spring, have vertically-extending portions 7, which areadapted to bear against the inside edges of the legs of the shoe andhave outwardly=extending flanges 8 arranged to be inserted between thetop of the shoe and the bottom of the hoof. The ends of the spring, withthese steel pieces, are so formed that when the pad is put in positionfor use they will spring outwardly against the inner edges of the legsof the shoe at about the widest part, so that as the pad tends to workbackwardly between the converging heels of the shoe not only the body,but the spring, will necessarily become compressed and cause a tightbite of the pad against the inside edges of the legs of the shoe. Withthis construction it is impossible to drive the pad out from between theheels of the shoe, for not only has the rubber body to be compressed,but the steel spring has to be sprung. The outwardly-extending flangesprevent the pad from accidentally being drawn or knocked down from thehoof.

The pad is placed in position when the ends of the spring are forcedtogether, so that the flanges may be passed between the legs of theshoe. Then when the spring is released the flanges project outwardlybetween the top of the shoe and the bottom of the hoof. In order toremove the pad, it is necessary to use a screw-driver or a similar tooland Wedge one end of the spring away from the inside of the legsufficiently to draw the flange past 'the frog and heel from allconcussion.

are relieved from jar.

This pad affords a sufficient foothold to prevent the hoof from slippingon wet or icy pavements, and thus obviates the necessity for theattachment of metal calks at the heel of the shoe, which eliminates theliability of the horse calking itself when standing.

Thispad also removes the necessity for the employment of bar-shoes, forthe yielding body as it becomes driven back in use prevents the heelsfrom contracting, and at the same time the outward thrust of the springthat passes through the body conduees toward producing the same effect.The pad may be removed at any time by proper manipulation for thepurpose of cleaning the hoof, so that it will not become foul and hard.

I claim as my invention 1. A removable elastic heel-padeonsisting of ayielding body, shaped to fit between the heels of a horseshoe, and anoutwardly-thrusting spring embedded within the body and the legs of theshoe and also to extend above the shoe between the top of the shoe andthe bot-tom of the hoof, substantially as specified. 3. A removableelastic heel-pad consisting of a yielding body, shaped to fit betweenthe heels of a horseshoe and having its lower surface roughened and itsupper surface recessed to receive the frog, and an outwardly-thrustingspring extending through the body from the front to the back and acrossthe back and having its front-ends provided with flanges that areadapted to engage the shoe so as to prevent the pad from dropping downand from being Worked backward between the heels of the shoe,substantially as specified.

NEIL STALKER. Witnesses:

H. R. WILLIAMs, V R. I-IoLooMB.

